Education in its broader sense is the process of becoming and identity formation. Developing a professional identity, as an engineer, teacher, or medical practitioner, lies at the core of higher education practice. However, previous research illustrates a lack of an integrated framework that conceptualizes the process to explain how learners practice professional identities and what are the relations between educational design and such practices.

Here is a short offering on my endeavours in the recent past...PhD wise that is.

Under the supervision of Prof. Peter Reimann, my research is investigating current practices and sense making of student data presented as Learning Analytics Visualisations (LAV) in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL). Existing knowledge of data use in this context will be advanced by examining and tracking teacher learning. This will be achieved by observing teachers’ ability to interpret, engage with and make sense of student data via the concept of expansive learning trajectories (Barab, Hay & Yamagata-Lynch, 1999; Cobb, 1996) in correlation with descriptive frameworks measuring the interplay of ESL pedagogy, technology, and the sense making process.

Widely discussed in the literature is the current and potential influence of digital technology in mainstream education. Opportunities now exist to enhance the teaching and learning experience through an expansive data trail generated by digital device users. In language instruction, the development of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a field of research is indicative of this. At an institutional level, the collection and analysis of data is referred to as Academic Analytics, and through learning and teaching spaces, Learning Analytics.

Over recent years, teams have emerged as a crucial vehicle for doing various projects. Teamwork offers both the organisations and individuals the ability to become more familiar with each other, and learn new skills and draw on other team members’ talents, experiences and perspectives. Working in a team enables team members to be more effective in their work, as compared to those who work on their projects on their own. Yet many different types of teams exist ranging from temporarily problem-solving teams to long-term project teams in order to respond to the teamwork demand.

Group facilitation, Video technology, Pedagogical strategy, Group decision making

Given the growing demands for collaborative teamwork, it has been suggested that facilitation is a vital skill in both the workplace and classroom in the 21st century. Research has found that strong facilitation skills would be critical for group decision-making and problem-solving. Yet many researchers and practitioners may consider group discussions as ineffective and time-consuming; few of us have tried to take any professional training before facilitating a project meeting.

This research project is set to investigate how information and communication technologies (ICT) with particular emphasis on telecollaboration can be used as a tool for promoting the intercultural competency of EFL teachers. A study was conducted in a form of an online course for EFL teachers at Taif University’s ELC in Saudi Arabia as a professional development, with the main focus on their reflective journaling of intercultural experiences as well as ICT.

Can we bridge between neuroscience and education?

As neuroscience continues to flourish there is a lot to be hopeful for in how this area of research might benefit education and learning. However, there has also been a history of skepticism: can neuroscience actually help, or does it simply offer pretty pictures of brains?